Putin urges Merkel to take unbiased attitude to Pussy Riot

November 16, 2012, 18:08 UTC+3Merkel said that the young women could have hardly been sentenced to a real term in prison for such offence in Germany

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MOSCOW, November 16 (Itar-Tass) — Russian President Vladimir Putin urged German Chancellor Angela Merkel to assess the Pussy Riot criminal case in the unbiased way in reply to Merkel’s criticism. “The German chancellor said about the young women, who are imprisoned for their escapade in the church. Does she know that before this one of them hanged an effigy posed as the Jew and said that Moscow should get rid of them? We and you cannot support people, who are taking an anti-Semitic position,” he said. “I would ask you to bear this in mind. The problem should be considered from all angles,” the Russian president told the German chancellor.

Merkel said at a session of the St. Petersburg Dialogue Forum earlier that the young women could have hardly been sentenced to a real term in prison for such offence in Germany. “Is it needed to put two young women in prison for two years, I do not know, I am not sure that this could have happened in Germany,” she said. Meanwhile, the German chancellor noted that the debates over acute problems are the normal way of dialogue. “Our friendship will not improve, if we are hushing up everything and pretend that we always share the same opinion,” she said with confidence.